We have a termite problem in the garage, but not to worry. We have placed Christmas lights on the other side of the patio and it looks fantastic. In the dark, nobody will look at the rot because their eyes will be distracted by the pretty, bright lights.
The truth is that come January, work will have to be done. The termites are not impressed with our lighting.
The Central African Empire was not a success, but you have to give the dictator credit. Military tyrants are common, men crowned with Napoleonic flair are rare or so he must have hoped. Sadly, all an ocean of self-made anointing oil cannot wash off the stench of vice and tyranny. He spent the nation’s money on a coronation that lasted almost as long as his rule.
You can’t cover up misrule with hollow successes, title changes, or ermine.
Like a sweaty teenage boy who thinks more deodorant and a splash of aftershave will cover up his stink, many of us decide that the problem is not the problem, but getting rid of the symptoms. We lived in a neighborhood infected with poverty where too many people would cover up their lack of wealth with a big car. There still was no money, but when you went to church nobody knew.
Christmas was God’s refusal to pretend. He knew the problem was the termites, the misrule, the stench, and the moral poverty of this world. He refused to cover it up with lighting, title changes, or aftershave. Jesus came to a trouble world and lived with us to get to the heart of the problem: our separation from God.
He came with a spectacular light, but one that shone down on a manger in a stable, highlighting the injustice of the world and also rectifying it. God came and we gave God a manager, God accepted that bed and made it sacred. God took a woman named Mary with no royal title in the Roman and with her faith transformed her to the Mother of God. That same God did not cover up the stench of sin and death, but had wise men bring the spices to prefigure his burial.
Nothing was covered up, everything was transformed.
In our lives, let’s kill the termites of sin and restore the soundness of our souls. May the Christmas light expose and transform the worthless in our lives to something wonderful. In our work and ministries, may we never be content with failures covered up by grandiose titles or pumped up self-esteem. We be transparent and sincere, admitting our failures, and doing the best we can. May the Holy Spirit wash us and then anoint us so we can die and live again.
Christmas is sweet, because Christmas began in the sweaty birth of the Son of God in a smelly stable.
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In